


Sit Still, Look Pretty

by lannisterslioness



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Funny Face AU, Model Rey, Modeling, Photographer Poe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-05-31 06:07:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6458860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannisterslioness/pseuds/lannisterslioness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pretty girls with pretty faces were a common sight for Poe Dameron, and none of them quite capturing his inspiration the way they used to. It isn't until he finds new inspiration in his roommate/lifelong friend Rey, who never wanted to be a model in the first place, though her curiosity is starting to get the better of her due to her family's history in the business. It was supposed to be one shoot, but when the people want more and things slowly start to shift between Poe & Rey, will they be able to remain friends or turn into something more?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Another AU I've just had sitting around until now! To be honest, I've never watched the movie Funny Face, so this is more of photographer/model au, slightly inspired by the premise of Funny Face. Thank wonderlandozdreams for this wonderful idea that I wish I got to sooner!

    Pretty faces came and went, sometimes Poe felt as if he had seen them all while he flipped through thousands of photos after every shoot, and after a while the pretty faces didn’t seem like much to stare at anymore. They all blended together, nothing particularly interesting about them, and him eventually having to pick a few to send off to be part of the magazine to keep his boss happy. Once he picked his few, Poe packed up his belongings and finally left the building, heading home at two in the morning. He was tired of Naboo using the same models, most of them bland and uninspiring, without much past their pretty faces that got them to where they were, but he had a good job, he got to travel most of the year, and though what used to be his dream was starting to feel more like a heavy weight on his shoulder, Poe kept pushing forward - hoping for that strike of inspiration to come back. 

 

    Poe lived just a few blocks away from the building, walking home in the middle of the night in the big city wasn’t that bad, and he could have lived all by himself if he wanted. But he had a big enough place, more than enough room for another person, and a year ago he got a roommate - Rey. He knew her parents, and her parents knew him and his family, Poe had known Rey since she was a tiny little thing, and he thought if he were ever to have a roommate to fill up the empty silence in his apartment, why not let it be someone he knew already? Rey was going to college in the city, studying engineering of all things, and she still had her obsession with old cars and almost anything with a motor - she was cheerful and optimistic just about every hour of every day, even when she had to stay up late on nights like tonight to study for an upcoming test in her classes. 

 

    Rey was sitting on the sofa, laptop in her lap and staring at it intently, with Poe’s French Bulldog that he had adopted a few years ago, BB-8, curled up and fast asleep at her side. She glanced over at him and smiled once he shut the door before returning her gaze to the screen, trying her best to absorb whatever she had to study. 

 

    “Late night studying again?” Poe asked as he hung his coat up on the rack by the door, carrying his bag with his camera stuffed inside over to the sofa and sitting beside her, BB-8 only stirring slightly before readjusting himself and falling back asleep. 

 

    “I’ve got a test on Thursday.” Rey responded. 

 

    “It’s only Monday.” Poe stated. 

 

    “I don’t want to be last minute again.” Rey yawned, rubbing her eyes and reaching over for her cup of coffee, desperate to stay awake. 

 

    “I don’t think you’ve ever been last minute with your studying.” Poe laughed. 

 

    “True, and I don’t want to start now.” Rey answered. “What took you so long at work?” 

 

    “Same stuff over and over again.” Poe grumbled. 

 

    “I’m so sorry that you have to stare at pretty models all day long and struggle over which pictures to send it.” Rey answered in her usual sarcastic tone, earning a smirk from Poe. 

 

    “Yeah, yeah.” Poe brushed it off. 

 

    He was tempted to leave Rey be and scoop up BB-8 to head to bed, but something about the way the light from the lamp beside her hit her made her look...different. She looked like a picture that was just begging to be shot, and without much though, Poe reached into his bag, took out his camera, and started snapping pictures of her. After a few clicks Rey looked over at him, a confused expression on her face, and just the way she scrunched her eyebrows together and pursed her lips, he couldn’t help but keep taking pictures. 

 

    “What are you doing?” Rey asked with a laugh, her expression changing again and Poe still taking her picture. 

 

    “Just taking pictures of something different.” Poe answered. 

 

    “You must have found something interesting about this funny face then.” Rey replied with a smirk, turning back to her laptop and Poe still capturing her movements. 

 

    He didn’t respond, just took a few more shots before putting the camera down and just looking at her, he supposed he always found something interesting about Rey, usually it was her knowledge on nearly every classic car he could think of, or that she somehow managed to train BB-8 all on her own in one afternoon, but he never thought twice about her looks. Sure, Rey was pretty, she was lucky enough to take after her mom in that department who had once been a model herself in her younger days, even her grandmother had been a model, the pretty looks were in her blood. But Rey never cared about looks, she always said she wanted to go to college because she didn’t want to rely on her looks, she wanted to do something with her life instead of just posing in front of a camera. Poe always thought Rey was pretty, though he was never allowed to think more than that given she had just turned twenty and he was twelve years older than her, but Poe never thought of Rey in  _ that _ way. She was a friend of his, someone he’d known forever, and not someone he would be willing to break that bond with just for the sake of a flare of attraction that he felt in that moment. 

 

    “I’m gonna head to bed.” Poe sighed, standing up with his camera in one hand and scooping up BB-8 with the other. “Good luck with your studying.” 

 

    “Alright, night.” Rey responded, giving him a brief wave before turning back to her screen. 

 

* * *

  
  


    Rey fell asleep on the sofa, her dead laptop still open and sitting on the coffee table in front of her, Poe pulled a blanket over her before leaving the apartment and trusting BB-8 to wake her up. When he got to the office and looked through his camera again, he had almost forgotten the pictures he took of Rey the night before. He stopped on the picture of Rey looking at her laptop, a slight smile on her lips after she noticed he was taking pictures of her, and there was just something about that picture that made Poe almost unable to keep flipping through the pictures. 

 

    “She’s pretty.” A voice spoke up from behind Poe, causing him to jump only to turn around and see that it was just his friend, Finn. “Who is she?” 

 

    “She’s uh, she’s my roommate.” Poe answered, putting his camera away and trying to focus on the job. 

 

    “Just your roommate?” Finn asked with a smirk. 

 

    “Yes,  _ just _ my roommate, and it’s going to stay that way...otherwise I’m pretty sure her father would castrate me.” Poe answered, remembering Mr. Solo’s threats quite vividly when he offered Rey the chance to move in with him. 

 

    “That’s too bad.” Finn sighed.

 

    “Don’t get any ideas.” Poe warned him. 

 

    “If I were stupid enough to hit on a girl you clearly liked, to the point of being genuinely terrified of her father's threats, then I wouldn’t be a very good friend.” Finn assured him. “She’s all yours buddy.” 

 

    “Yeah, thanks.” Poe mumbled, turning his camera off and putting it away for now, he had no shoots today for the magazine, just sitting at a desk and flipping through more pictures of more blank faces for another part of the magazine. 

 

    “She’d be perfect though, for the magazine I mean. Something different.” Finn suggested. 

 

    “She’s not into the modeling thing, her family was in it and she just...wants nothing to do with it.” Poe tried to explain. 

 

    “Has she ever even tried it before? I mean the girl is just sitting at her computer and it’s a good shot.” Finn said. “Have you ever even asked her? Sometimes all it takes is one good photographer and a girl is set for life.” 

 

    Poe wasn’t surprised that Finn was trying to get him to convince Rey to model, he was one of the few people that had a final say on what printed and where it went in the magazine, so to have him impressed was half the battle. But Rey refused to follow in her family’s footsteps, she had seen the business get to her family, especially her mother, and if it hadn’t been for her father helping her, there wouldn’t be a Rey standing here today. 

 

    “We’ve been looking for something new, and she’s new.” Finn pointed out. “Just ask her about it, okay? We’ve been looking through other photos and...honestly nothing has jumped out at me like her.” 

 

    “I’ll ask, but I already know what she’ll say.” Poe sighed. 

 

* * *

  
  


    Rey looked exhausted the moment Poe walked through the door, and he wasn’t that surprised since he had no idea what time she actually went to sleep, on top of having to get up and go to school this morning - hell, he was surprised she was still conscious at nine o’clock at night. She was sipping on a bowl of soup, something she must have heated up thinking he would be late again, and she immediately jumped off the sofa, a startled BB-8 barking after her before he realized she just moved, while she made her way to the kitchen. 

 

    “You should really start answering your texts on your phone, I would have made you something.” Rey sighed as she put her bowl in the sink and started making Poe something without even asking. 

 

    Rey didn’t pay rent or anything for living with him, Poe outright refused to take a single penny from her since he could more than take care of the both of them from just his job alone. Not to mention, she was in school full time, getting a job on top of that would be nearly impossible, and Poe refused to let her work herself to the bone when her education was far more important, especially to her. But Rey fussed to do  _ something _ around the apartment, and cooking had turned into her thing, though Poe would insist on cooking something for her on her late nights no matter what time he came home. 

 

    “Sorry, it’s on vibrate.” Poe said. “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.” 

 

   “Your phone is always on vibrate, what if you lose it one day?” Rey asked with a laugh. “And you’re eating something, it’s either a sandwich or soup, your choice.” 

 

    “Sandwich.” Poe relented as Rey went to work making him a sandwich. “Can I ask you something?” Poe asked as he put his bag up on the counter and leaned against it, watching Rey buzz around the kitchen. 

 

    “Go for it.” Rey said. 

 

    “Would you ever consider modeling just one time?” Poe asked, he knew she’d say no, he was ready for her to say no, but instead she hesitated, a look of concentration on her face while she set the sandwich stuff on the counter in front of her. 

 

    “One time?” Rey asked, Poe nodded in assurance. “I suppose.” 

 

    “Really?” Poe asked, surprised by her answer. 

 

    “I mean...I’ve always been curious about it.” Rey shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t want it to be my life, but...I’d try it once just to say I did. Why?” 

 

    “The magazine is looking for some new faces, one of the people I work with saw you and thought you’d be good for it. I’d just have to take a few shots and we'll see what happens.” Poe shrugged. 

 

    “Okay.” Rey answered, returning to making his sandwich and carrying on. “When do you wanna do it?” 

 

    “Uh, well...I’ll see when I can get Jess. She does a little bit of everything - hair, makeup, wardrobe - and I’ll just get some time at the studio in the building and...that’s it.” Poe said. For some reason everything falling into place made him uneasy, he worried that something would go wrong later down the line, he knew he was silly to worry about something that might not even happen, but when it came to Rey, he’d rather be safe than sorry. 

 

    “Cool. Just try not to get Wednesday, those are my late days.” Rey nodded and handed Poe his finished sandwich, the favorite of his she knew by heart without even asking - turkey and cheese with mayo and crushed up Cheetos stuffed in there. 

 

    “Yeah, alright.” Poe nodded. “Thanks.” 

 

    “No problem.” Rey yawned. 

 

    “Get some sleep.” Poe laughed. 

 

    “Don’t tell me what to do, I’ll sleep when I want.” Rey teased, a cheerful smile playing on her lips while BB-8 trotted over and barked up at her, searching for a handout. “And no, you had something earlier, you keep going and you’re going to turn into a barrel.” 

  
    BB-8 whined in protest, but eventually turned his efforts to Poe who had grown to resist his begging. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So things slowly start to shift a bit in this chapter, at least we get to see what's going on in Poe and Rey's minds a little bit :P I'm starting to figure out chapter three today actually! I think I need to slow down a bit, it's getting hard to keep track of all these fics!

    It took a week to set everything up, it wasn’t anything extravagant or large scaled, it was just going to be Poe, Jessika, and Rey, no one else around to make her feel uncomfortable or strange in anyway. Poe brought Rey to the studio a bit early, he knew how she was with going to new places, it took her a bit to get used to new surroundings, though she always seemed to adjust better with him right by her side. 

 

    “So, this is what it’s like then?” Rey asked curiously, wandering around the open studio and taking everything in. 

 

    “Sort of.” Poe couldn’t help the small smile on his face, he couldn’t remember the last time he had to explain the magic of how everything worked - most people were so numb to it anymore that Poe had let himself become numb to it too. “It’s usually a lot busier, a lot more people, four or five different people coming up to you in between takes and adjusting your hair or fixing your makeup or something like that.” 

 

    “Sounds like chaos.” Rey scoffed, though he noticed the small smile on her face now too. 

 

    “It’s an organized chaos. In studios it’s usually not that bad, it’s when you shoot at different locations that it’s really chaos, especially outdoor ones. Did I ever tell you about-” 

 

    “The shoot where you were dealing with three girls who despised each other, they were all in these dreadfully heavy flowing gowns, and it was a super windy day at the beach. Yeah, you’ve told me that one before.” Rey laughed. 

 

    “Right, well, it’s hard to keep track of all this stuff anymore.” Poe gave a small laugh. 

 

    “Is that what happens? Everything just blurs together?” Rey said, Poe couldn’t quite figure out the expression on her face, it was blank but twinged with some sadness. 

 

    “No, you remember certain things, like the awful girls at the beach.” Poe smirked. “But you remember the good stuff too. It’s just everything else in between fades away, the unimportant stuff, you know?” 

 

    Rey nodded at that answer, looking around the room again before wandering in front of the blank white backdrop where all the lights were shining down. 

 

    “It’s all bigger than I thought it would be.” Rey spoke up now. 

 

    “Yeah, I thought that the first time too when I walked into one of these places.” Poe said. 

 

    Rey was about to speak again, but quickly shut her mouth when the doors were thrown open and Jessika walked in. It took Poe some time to get used to Jessika, she was certainly out there from time to time, but she always meant well, and no matter the model he had to work with - whether they were friendly or horrible - Jessika always had them talking and smiling by the end of it. She had a way with people, no matter what kind of person they were, and he hoped that her charisma would help ease Rey into all of this, what she never wanted to walk into in the first place. 

 

    “Oh my god, look at you!” Jessika squealed right away, walking towards Rey and right past Poe. “You are so adorable, you look like a little baby deer with those big brown eyes. Are you alright with being called adorable? Some girls hate it.” 

 

    “I-It’s fine.” Rey was completely caught off guard by Jess and her boldness, Poe was trying to hide his laughter desperately. 

 

    “I’m Jess.” She finally introduced herself and shook Rey’s hand. “You must be Rey, Poe has told me so much about you, I mean he nearly-” 

 

    “Jess, why don’t you go help Rey get ready.” Poe cut her off abruptly. 

 

    Jess glared at him before letting out a sigh and smiling brightly again at Rey. Poe admitted that he talked about Rey more than he should have, especially to Jessika who loved to talk about anything and everything to everyone. He didn’t know why he always talked about Rey, he figured it was because she was the most interesting thing in his life anymore, everything else seemed like a gray blur and then there was Rey, like a shot of color into his dull life. 

 

    “Come on, let’s go play dress up.” Jess took a hold of Rey by the arm and started leading her to the back rooms where everything was already set up. 

 

* * *

  
  


     As Poe expected, Rey was uncomfortable the first few shots, she didn’t know what to do, but he was grateful that Jess at least made her comfortable with what she was wearing for the first part of the session - a simple brightly colored sweater with a pair of jeans that might have hugged her a bit too tightly, with her hair pulled up and makeup done. Poe tried a few different tricks he knew to make others loosen up behind the camera, but it wasn’t until he had Jess jump in there with her for a few shots that Rey finally relaxed. She became her usual bubbly self, and with Jess keeping her energy up even after she got off camera, Rey was a natural. Jess changed Rey’s outfits a few more times, but the very last one is one that caught Poe’s attention the most. 

 

    Rey never wore dresses, the last time he saw her in a dress was when she was fourteen and miserable being stuffed into it for her parents wedding vow renewal. But there she was, walking out in front of the camera in pale pink evening gown, the back cut out all the way down to her lower back, and Jessika had pulled her hair down into beautiful curls. There was no denying how dry Poe’s throat had become and how long he just stared at her dumbfounded until it caused Rey to blush a bit. 

 

    “Well, are you just going to stand there or are you actually going to take pictures of her?” Jess interrupted, causing Poe to snap out of his trace and try to brush it off, returning to work while despite the blushing, Rey seemed mostly unfazed by it. 

 

    After it was said and done, Jess helped Rey out of the dress while she got changed back into her normal clothes. Poe had most of his things packed up by the time Jess breezed by him with a knowing smirk on her face and Rey walked up to him, sitting down on one of the chairs and waiting for him to pack up. 

 

    “You did great out there.” Poe assured her, avoiding her eyes out of fear of those feelings he felt not too long ago coming back. 

 

    “Yeah?” Rey asked hopefully. 

 

    “You really did, you were a natural out there.” Poe smiled. 

 

    “It was kinda fun, once I got into it.” Rey admitted. 

 

    Poe glanced up at her then, seeing the spark of happiness in her eyes and the broad grin on her face. 

 

    “Even when Jess stuffed you into that dress?” Poe asked with a smirk. 

 

    “I liked the dress the most I think.” Rey said, capturing Poe’s attention fully, and for a moment he swore she could tell just how much he had liked her in that dress. 

 

    “Well...uh, good.” Poe pulled himself away from her gaze again and focused on getting everything packed up. “Glad you had fun.” 

 

    It was silent between them for a moment, Rey watched all the different equipment packed up until Poe broke the silence again. 

 

    “Do you wanna go grab lunch or something?” Poe asked. 

 

    “Sure.” Rey agreed, that smile back on her face and once Poe caught a glimpse of it, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

 

    It wasn’t as if his feelings appeared for her out of the blue, she was just one of the few people he knew all his life pretty much. Poe’s parents were friends with Luke Skywalker and then became friends with Leia and Han, Poe quickly befriending their only son at the time Ben; and then Rey came along. At first he wanted nothing to do with her, and neither did Ben, why would two nearly teenaged boys want to spend time with a baby anyhow? But as Rey got older, she desperately tried to get her brothers attention, and after a while Ben caved which meant Poe spent time with Rey as well. Rey was a tomboy, all the way up until she hit sixteen she wanted nothing to do with girly things and wanted to run around with the boys all the time. While Poe didn’t see her as much as she got older, he remembered the first time he saw her when she was sixteen, he was twenty-eight and had no right even thinking that she looked good in just her jeans and a t-shirt or that her smile somehow was contagious, but he figured that was the moment things started to shift, and the moment that Han must have noticed as well by giving him a more than fair warning. 

 

    In all honesty, Poe hoped living with Rey would make things easier, he wouldn’t see her just when she was all dolled up, he would see just about every version of her and surely change his mind. He knew the plan backfired when Rey got sick a few months ago, so sick that she barely got out of bed and had a bright red nose raw from constantly blowing it. She still had her smile that he brought out in her to make her feel better, he took care of her the entire time, taking time off work to do so, and despite getting sick himself, he wouldn’t have traded it for the world. Some part of him always knew that he could never get Rey off his mind, and it wasn’t until he saw her in that dress just moments ago that he realized those feelings weren’t going to fade anytime soon - if anything, they were about to get worse. 

 

* * *

  
  


    After lunch Rey went to her two classes for the day, coming back home and finding Poe on the couch this time, his laptop out, and BB-8 perched perfectly on the back of the sofa, his head resting on Poe’s shoulder fast asleep. He glanced over at her and just gave a smile, not wanting to disturb his fast asleep companion, and Rey just smiled back before making her way into the kitchen, looking for something to snack on. She eventually made popcorn, remembering that Poe wanted to watch some movie with her when she got home later and brought it over to the couch with her, trying to keep herself from laughing at BB-8’s snoring. 

 

    “How long has he been out like that?” Rey whispered. 

 

    “Since I got him back inside after his walk.” Poe answered. “Two hours or so.” 

 

    “And you’ve just been sitting there letting him sleep on you for two hours?” She asked with a broad grin on her face. 

 

    “No, I’ve been letting him sleep on me for two hours while I’ve been working.” Poe countered with a grin of his own. 

 

    “What are you working on?” Rey asked curiously, trying to get a glimpse of what was on his screen.

 

    “Just flipping through the stuff from this morning.” Poe tried to pass it off as casually as he could, Rey could sense something was off with him. 

 

    “You’ve been staring at pictures for two hours? Was it that bad that you’ve had to look at all of them to find a good one?” She asked curiously. 

 

    “No, the problem with you is all of them are great, it’s hard to pick just a few when I’d rather just send them all, but I think that’d be a bit much.” Poe grinned and Rey felt a strange fluttering feeling in her stomach.

 

    She’d had it a few times before, always around Poe and since she was sixteen and started to notice just how handsome her older brothers friend was as he slowly became one of her close friends as well. She always ignored it, Poe photographed models as a job and he’d surely been with women far more beautiful and confident than she could ever be. He was her friend, she left it at that, and to try and break the feeling she felt, she playfully tossed a piece of popcorn at him and laughed when BB-8 roused from his sleep to eat the stray kernel off of Poe’s shoulder. 

 

    “What was that for?” Poe asked with a laugh. 

 

    “Nothing, I just felt like it.” Rey shrugged. “So, what movie did you want to watch?” 

 

    Poe closed up his laptop and set it aside, prying BB-8 off of him so he could go put the movie on. Rey made herself comfortable, starting out with just sitting beside Poe on the couch, a pillow in her lap under the bowl. Eventually the bowl got set aside on the table and she kept shifting positions until she ended up where she always did - her pillow in Poe’s lap while she laid down on him, one of Poe’s hands lazily running through her hair and BB-8 curling up by her feet. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: New chapter time! I'm so happy to see so many people enjoying this fic, I'm having a lot of fun writing it! Also, yes, I made Hux the Editor-in-chief for this story because let's be honest, out of all the characters that I haven't already given roles to yet in this fic, he's the most "fashionable" :P

    Few people had ever been called directly to the Editor-in-chief’s office of the magazine; Poe himself had only been there once and it was many years ago when he was first hired as one of the principal photographers of Naboo. Aside from that, unless you were the Editor-in-chief himself or his assistant, barely anyone walked down that long hallway on the top floor, which of course only added to Poe’s anxiety, the anxiety he’d been carrying since he got a call from the Editor’s assistant this morning saying he was requested to meet him in his office as soon as he arrived at work. Poe had been sitting outside his office for about ten minutes now, fidgeting in his seat and watching his assistant type furiously on her computer, barely acknowledging that Poe was ever there, until her phone finally rang which she answered almost instantly. She mumbled a brief ‘Yes, sir’ and as soon as she hung up the phone, she sprang up out of her feet and opened up the doors to the Editor’s office, glaring at Poe indicating that it was time for him to go in. With one last sigh, Poe got up from his seat and entered the office, almost jumping out of his skin with the assistant slammed the door behind him. 

 

    The editor’s office was cold, both in temperature and in the decor that surrounded him, everything was clean and streamlined, either in a stainless steel or solid while modern looking furniture, there was no warmth anywhere, save for the leather chair that the editor himself sat in. He didn’t even acknowledge Poe entering the room, much like his assistant, and was focusing intently on something on his computer, after a moment, he finally looked up at Poe and cracked a smile that almost looked foreign on the ginger haired man’s face. 

 

    “Dameron, good to see you, go ahead and make yourself comfortable.” He gestured towards the seats in front of him and Poe chose one and tried to sit down as comfortably as he could, but there really was no comfort in the office at all. 

 

    “It’s good to see you too, Hux.” Poe gave a brief nod and tried to smile back. Hux was all he’d ever called the man and all he ever heard anyone call him. He was always put together, never a hair out of place and never a wrinkle in his suits, people around the place liked to whisper that he was a robot of sorts, but despite his demeanor he managed to keep Naboo as one of the most successful and respected fashion magazines in the world, and no one ever dared to question what he said or did. 

 

    “It’s been awhile hasn’t it?” Hux was horrible at small talk, that much everyone knew, he was always a businessman and when he tried to struggle with small talk it was almost painful. 

 

    “Yeah, it sure has.” Poe said, unsure of what else to really say to the man. 

 

    “Well, let’s get to business then shall we. I called you in here to talk about the pictures of the girl you photographed not long ago, she’s quite stunning, but I’m afraid you didn’t mention her name anywhere.” Hux pulled up on of the pictures on his computer and turned the screen towards Poe, it was one of the shots where Rey was in that dress and Poe knew that ‘stunning’ was just one of the many words that could be used to describe how beautiful Rey looked.

 

    “Uh, yeah, sorry. Her name is Rey Solo.” Poe said, clearing his throat a bit. 

 

    “Solo, that name sounds familiar.” Hux mumbled as he turned the screen back towards his desk. “Is she by chance related to a Leia Organa?” 

 

    “Yeah, that’s her mother.” Poe said, he didn’t think much about it at all until he saw what he could only describe as ecstatic. 

 

    “She’s a legacy, I didn’t even know Leia Organa had a daughter, I knew about the son but the daughter is a surprise. My father said she just dropped off the face of the earth twenty-five years ago, and her mother was just as stunning.” Hux said, pulling up two different pictures on his screen now as he turned it back towards Poe, one picture of Leia when she was much younger, probably around Rey’s age, and a picture of a woman he’d rarely seen before but he knew was Padme, Rey’s grandmother. “How did you manage to track down Leia Organa’s daughter and get her to pose for these pictures?” 

 

    “She’s…” Poe hesitated, he didn’t really know what to say. If he said they were friends, Hux would throw her head first into all of this and let her get just as lost in it as her mother had. He didn’t want that to happen to Rey, he wanted to keep his word to both Han and Leia that he would keep Rey safe in the big city. “She’s my girlfriend.” 

 

    “Really? Well, that certainly explains why she’s got that spark in her eye in all these pictures with you behind the camera.” Hux smirked. “I want her to be the new Fresh Face of the magazine, not only is she stunning but she’s a legacy, the fashion world will explode seeing such a familiar and beautiful face return to the world.” 

 

    “I don’t know, she was kinda hesitant about all this in the first place. I’ll run it by her.” Poe said, hoping that would end the conversation. 

 

    “I have a better idea, bring her to Coruscant down the street for lunch tomorrow, we’ll have a little chat there and see if she wants to go through with it or not.” Hux shrugged. 

 

    Hux was a determined man, that much Poe knew, and he wouldn’t rest until he got to give his grand speech to Rey herself about how she was a legacy and how a pretty face like hers shouldn’t be hiding from the world. Poe knew he couldn’t hide Rey from Hux, not anymore, but at least with pretending to be her boyfriend, he could stay by her side. 

 

    “Yeah, I’ll bring her.” Poe agreed. 

 

    “Wonderful! I look forward to seeing both of you, one o’clock.” Hux stated and just as quickly as his excitement was there, it faltered once he focused on writing the appointment in his book. “That’s all I wanted to talk to you about, you’re free to go.” Hux dismissed him. 

 

    Poe said his goodbye and was sure he’d never left an office faster than he left Hux’s office. 

 

* * *

  
  


    Poe had not idea how he was going to tell any of this to Rey, she wanted those pictures to be a one time thing, and deep down a guilt was starting to grow in Poe’s gut that made him regret even asking her to do those pictures in the first place. But it was said and done, and now he had to bring her out to lunch with his boss and hopefully she would find a graceful way to turn him down, if that was what she wanted to do. That part could be easily resolved, but the part of where Poe lied to his boss in saying that she was his girlfriend was a whole other problem on top of a problem. He didn’t know how she’d react to that part, and yes they’d been friends forever, but being friends was a lot different from pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend. 

 

    “Alright, what’s wrong?” Rey asked with a sigh, putting her laptop aside and glaring at Poe who had been doing his bad habit of pacing the floor by the window and mumbling to himself. “You’re about to burn a hole into the floor.” 

 

    “It’s...it’s hard to explain.” Poe stuttered out. 

 

    “Sit.” Rey stated, patting the seat beside her and sitting up on the sofa to make room for him. Poe sat down beside her with a sigh and didn’t know where to start. “Go on, spit it out.” Rey insisted. 

 

    “Well...I met with the Editor-in-chief today, he saw the pictures I sent in of you and he liked them. He wants to use them in the magazine.” Poe explained, he figured he’d get the good news done and over with first. 

 

    “That’s great!” Rey grinned, but quickly faltered once she realized Poe wasn’t smiling back at her. “Uh oh, there’s a catch.” 

 

    “Not necessarily a bad one really.” Poe was hesitating. “He also wants to make you the new Fresh Face of the magazine this year, he wants to have lunch with us tomorrow and talk about it. It’s a big thing going through with all of that though, and I know that you only just wanted to do it once, we can just let him down gently that you don’t want to do all of this.” 

 

    “What do I have to do if I do want to do it?” Rey asked curiously. 

 

    “Are you actually thinking about doing it?” Poe asked. 

 

    “I don’t know.” Rey shrugged. “With the money from it I could help my parents with paying for my school, and honestly, I had fun with you and Jessika.” She admitted. 

 

    “If you want to do it you can do it, but I know you’ve never really wanted to get into all of this and committing like this to the magazine, they’ll be parading you around for a whole year like a prized show dog, not to mention everyone else that will try to latch on.” Poe explained. “I’ve seen it get the best of people, and I know you have too, I just don’t want you to get lost in it.” 

 

    “If I have you at my side I won’t.” Rey said with a small grin and took Poe’s hand to squeeze it. “You’re my best friend, and my rock, you’ll keep me sane like you always do.” 

 

    “That brings me to something else.” Poe grimaced. 

 

    “Go on then.” Rey sighed. 

 

    “I...I sort of lied to my boss so I could be at your side instead of him trying to pick you off like a vulture and throw you into all of this alone. I...may have said that I was your boyfriend.” Poe mumbled nearly the entire sentence. 

 

    “You what?” Rey asked with a laugh. “It’s fine, it really is Poe. If it keeps you with me through all of this then I will gladly call you my fake boyfriend.” 

 

    “Right, well, you know that means  _ acting _ like a real couple in front of everyone we meet now. Holding hands, being sickeningly romantic-” 

 

    “You’re talking around the kissing bit.” Rey called him out with a smirk on her face. “I know what it means, but I’ve known you my entire life, if I can’t pass as your believable girlfriend then there’s something incredibly wrong. We can kiss and still be friends.” Rey shrugged. 

 

    “Yeah, I mean, I know we could.” Poe was starting to get a bit nervous, he could feel a blush crawling up on his cheeks, and when Rey reached over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, he knew she could see it. 

 

     “Would it make you feel better if we practiced?” Rey asked. 

 

    “Uh, I don’t know.” Poe was amazed that he wasn’t stumbling over his words as he spoke now. 

 

    “Come here.” Rey said. 

 

    Poe turned to face her on the sofa, and without a second to think, she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned over, and kissed him. It was supposed to be a chaste kiss, something that they could quickly pull off in front of anyone who was suspicious of them not being together. But as Poe rested his hands on Rey’s hips, her tongue started to try and get him to open his mouth, to which she finally succeeded and the innocent kiss turned into something a little more with slight moans and escalated breathing with hands starting to roam where they shouldn’t if they were just friends. Poe quickly pulled away a few moments later and the both of them were breathless and slightly red faced from a bit of embarrassment. 

 

    “Sorry, got into it a bit.” Rey mumbled, though the smile she was trying to hide said otherwise. 

 

    “No, it’s okay.” Poe nodded. “Good practice.” 

 

    “Right.” Rey agreed. 

 

* * *

  
  


    Hux had promised Rey nearly everything but immortality the following day at lunch; fame, fortune, travelling the world. Poe was conflicted nearly the entire time, he didn’t know whether to cut in or let Rey speak for herself, and she was glad that they seemed to work in unison - he spoke for her when she didn’t know what to say, and she spoke up for herself when she knew what she wanted, despite the awkwardness between them from their kiss yesterday. In the end Rey made a deal with Hux, she would be his Fresh Face and she would try the modeling thing out, but she wasn’t letting it get in the way of her school and she wasn’t signing her life away to it. Spring break was coming up soon and while Hux wasn’t entirely thrilled to be arranging everything around, Rey knew he wanted her and her family name attached to the magazine again, and he begrudgingly rearranged it all. But when the time came, she was going to be spending an entire week in London, time for the shoot and the party announcing her new title as well as attending other parties to let her be a bit more known. Rey also insisted that she wouldn’t do it unless she had Poe at her side, along with Jessika as her stylist because she’d grown quite fond of Jessika after just that one day, to which Hux also agreed to keep Rey happy. In the end, everything worked out, and Rey should have been excited about traveling and having her friends with her, but she was more nervous now than she had ever been in her entire life. 

 

    “Someone drives a hard bargain.” Poe smirked, he was walking arm and arm with Rey back to their apartment, they’d started out like this to keep up the couple act, but rey liked their closeness, especially with her nerves. 

 

    “I just know what I want and won’t rest until I get it.” Rey laughed. 

 

    “Spoken like a true model already.” Poe grinned. “Don’t let all this new found power go to your head, I’ll be right there to burst your bubble.” 

 

    “Good to know.” Rey hugged Poe a bit closer, she didn’t know if it was for the slight winter chill that still twinged the air or because she just wanted him a bit closer. “I’m nervous though.” Rey announced after chewing on her lip a bit. 

 

    “Why?” Poe asked curiously. “I’ll be there, Jessika will be there. You’re not getting sent off to some far off country where you don’t know the language and you have no one you know there.” 

 

    “I’m actually nervous about what my mom will say.” Rey finally admitted. It had been on her mind on and off since she took the pictures, but now with all of this, her face would be plastered everywhere and she had to tell her parents before they found out by seeing her on magazines. “And Ben, god, Ben’s going to go ballistic, he remembers.” 

 

    “Why don’t you invite them up here for dinner then and tell them, talk all about it and get it out there, Spring Break is still a month away and your parents only live an hour from here, your brother would fly anywhere in the world to get to you.” Poe pointed out. “It’d be easier to tell them face to face instead of over the phone or something.” 

 

    “And what about this then?” Rey gestured to their linked arms with her other hand, and while she thought Poe would have let go then, he didn’t. 

 

    “We don’t have to tell them, it’s just so Hux doesn’t send you off somewhere on your own. But if you want to, you can.” Poe shrugged. 

 

    “Yeah...you’re right, they don’t have to know. We’re not even really dating, it’d be kinda pointless. Plus I think they’ll be wound up enough from the modeling thing, I don’t need my father strangling you on top of it all.” Rey said with a bit of a grin. 

 

    “It’ll be fine, and you still have me through all this no matter what, remember?” Poe asked her. 

 

    “I remember.” Rey giggled a bit. “Thank you.” 

 

    “For what?” Poe asked curiously. 

 

    “For just still being you, and making everything sound rational.” Rey sighed. 

  
   “Anytime.” Poe assured her, and for a moment when Rey looked up at him, she could have sworn that he was going to lean over and press a kiss to her cheek , but something made him hesitate and pull away, settling with just giving her a smile before focusing on getting back to their apartment. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I wanted to post this chapter earlier, but it wasn't done earlier! I got a little busy with all the Mother's Day stuff going on with my mom and couldn't finish this chapter until now. I hope you guys like it! ;)

    Rey was a nervous wreck, from the moment she opened her eyes up to now, she had done nothing but non-stop movement. She was always doing something - making breakfast, cleaning, walking BB-8, making lunch, starting dinner - all until Poe finally made her stop and go shower in hopes of that it would calm her down while he watched over everything in the kitchen. He knew it didn’t work the minute he heard her high heels clicking against the hardwood floor, rushing towards him, her hair still soaking wet and her holding her dress up. 

 

    “Poe, can you help me with the back of this?” She asked with a sigh, she still looked worried and tense beyond all belief, pulling her hair to the side so Poe could tie up the back of her yellow halter top dress. 

 

    Poe did as he was told, trying to avoid the urge to just rest his hands on her bare back that was exposed before her, and snapped out of it once she turned around with her panicked face again. 

 

    “How’s everything? Is it alright?” Rey was peaking around his shoulders, trying to see how the dinner was going. 

 

    “Rey, relax.” Poe stated, grabbing her shoulders and getting her to look directly at him. “It’s not the end of the world, it’s you family coming over for dinner, you know, the people that love you unconditionally? Go finish getting ready, I can handle things out here, I have cooked before you know, with you as a matter of fact. And for the love of god, please relax, you look like you’re about to implode.” 

 

    “But-” 

 

     “No, go, or so help me I will lock you in your room until your family gets here.” Poe ordered now. 

 

    “...Fine.” Rey relented, her shoulders drooping and probably relaxing for the first time so far today. 

 

    “Go on now.” Poe said as she started to slowly walk off like a dejected puppy. “You’ll live through it Rey.” He laughed a bit.

 

    Rey closed the door to her bedroom and finished getting ready, he thought she was going to try to slip back into the kitchen, but instead she was just heading back to the bathroom to finish up her hair and makeup, little BB-8 trailing behind her with what almost looked like a grin on his face. An hour later Rey finally emerged and looking completely stunning, it made it difficult for Poe to focus on what he was doing, but he knew that if he didn’t, Rey would kill him for messing something up. 

 

    “You look really nice.” Poe made the observation, focusing on the chopping he was doing. 

 

    “Thanks.” Rey smiled. “And thank you for sending me away, I needed to slow down.” 

 

    “Anytime.” Poe smirked. 

 

    “You need any help?” She asked innocently. 

 

    “I think I’ve got it from here.” He assured her and stopped what he was doing to stop and face her now. “Go relax some more, I know you’re only going to get stressed out again when your parents get here.” 

 

    “Okay, they should be here soon anyway.” Rey said. 

 

    Before she walked away, she grabbed Poe by the shoulders and brought him in for a kiss, not just a quick peck on the cheek or lips, but a kiss that she instantly and knowingly deepened right away. Just as Poe started to kiss her back and rest his hands on her hips, the doorbell rang and caused them to part. 

 

    “That must be them, I’ll get it.” Rey said, though she was surprisingly still relaxed and even smiling. “By the way, you might want to get the lipstick off, bright pink isn’t your color.” She giggled as she walked out of the kitchen, Poe grabbing a nearby paper towel and wiping her lipstick off his lips with a grin of his own now. 

 

* * *

  
  


    Poe wasn’t quite sure what exactly was going on between him and Rey anymore, they were still just friends - or at least he thought - but yet she seemed to have no problems kissing him when no one else was around. They were supposed to be pretending to be together and yet he couldn’t help but feel like that they were getting closer. His mind was wandering through the entire dinner, only occasionally pulling himself together to listen in on the conversation or have a quick chat with Ben when he caught his attention. Rey seemed to be normal during the dinner, talking to her parents, telling them about how her school was going, and everything she would have normally done - save for her hand occasionally wandering under the table and squeezing Poe’s knee. 

 

    “Alright, let’s get to it then.” Han grumbled after dinner was over, everyone falling silent and looking right at him. “What’s going on?” 

 

    “What do you mean?” Rey asked curiously. 

 

    “You invited us all here to have dinner, something’s going on.” Han said. 

 

    “I can’t invite my family over for dinner?” Rey countered, to which she was just met with Han’s unwavering glare, causing her to finally relent. “Fine.” 

 

    “What is it?” Han asked. “Are you dating Poe?” 

 

    “What? No!” Rey quickly exclaimed, her cheeks turning bright red and Poe listening to Ben try and stifle a laugh at his sister's embarrassment. 

 

    “It’s alright if you are, sweetheart, at least with me it’s fine.” Leia said with a slight shrug. 

 

    “I’m not dating Poe.” Rey tried to clarify. 

 

    “It’s not something worse is it? I’m still waiting for you to do something worse than the time I got arrested.” Ben called out from the other end of the table. 

 

    “It better not be anything worse, please tell me that if it’s bad you got arrested.” Han mumbled. 

 

    “I didn’t get arrested, it’s not worse than getting arrested, and I’m not dating Poe.” Rey explained in one fell swoop. “I’m modeling.” 

 

    “What?” Leia asked, her eyes going wide in disbelief. “I’d rather have you dating Poe.” 

 

    “It’s only for a year.” Rey tried to push forward with the conversation. “I’m still going to school, I’m not trading one for the other, I just wanted to try it, and it’d be nice to finally help pay you guys back for college.” 

 

    “Rey, we already talked to you about how school is far more important.” Han explained. 

 

    “I know, and I still think it’s important. I just wanted to try this, I wanted to see if I could do it, and the money that comes from it certainly doesn’t hurt. And it’s not like I’m going out on my own, Poe said he was going to stay with me through all of this, he’s going to keep me from losing my head in all of this.” Rey reached over and grabbed Poe’s hand now under the table while looking over at him with a faint smile, she was starting to lose her confidence in all of this, but Poe squeezed her hand back to let her know he was staying with her no matter what. 

 

    “Is that true Poe?” Leia asked. 

 

    “Yeah, I’m not letting Rey get sucked into this. When you guys let her move up here with me to go to school, I promised I’d take care of her, and I am. I’m not going to let someone get their claws in her and ruin her life.” Poe explained. 

 

    Leia gave a faint smile and a slight nod before her gaze landed on Han who had remained stoic and silent through both Poe and Rey’s explanation of things. 

 

    “Okay.” Han finally let out with a sigh. “Fine, it’s fine with me. No naked modeling, I draw the line there.” 

 

    “Dad.” Rey glared at him. 

 

    “And you,” He looked directly at Poe now. “Don’t knock her up.” 

 

    “DAD!” Rey exclaimed now, her cheeks bright red again. 

 

    “I, uh, I won’t.” Poe stated, blushing himself a bit now. 

 

    “So how long have you been dating Poe?” Leia asked her daughter with a smirk. 

 

    “Mom!” Rey hissed. 

 

    “About a month.” Poe spoke up, he knew it was a lie, but he also knew Han and Leia and that they always had a hunch he would end up with Rey, though Han had made threats about staying away, he’d softened a bit over their time together. 

 

    Rey glared at him now and Poe gave her hand a reassuring squeeze to let her know to just go with it so the conversations can move on. 

 

    “I should be grossed out by this a bit, but if it means I get Poe as a brother in-law someday, I’m okay with it.” Ben shrugged. 

 

    “Ugh.” Rey just grunted and shook her head, the night certainly going very differently from how she originally planned. 

 

* * *

  
  


    After all was said and done, after Han, Leia, and Ben left, Han giving Poe a final warning to not knock up his daughter; Poe and Rey were left alone together again, little BB-8 sprawled out on the couch between them. 

 

    “I can’t believe they think we’re dating.” Rey groaned. 

 

    “Well, that was part of the plan anyway, right?” Poe asked with a smirk. 

 

    “The modeling plan, not the parent's plan.” She laughed a bit. 

 

    “Well, uh, not complaining or anything, but we have been kissing a lot lately with no reason to other than just kissing for the hell of it.” Poe shrugged, he couldn’t exactly look over at Rey, a bit afraid of how she would react. 

 

    “Oh, yeah, right.” Rey mumbled. “Well...I like kissing you.” 

 

    “I do too.” Poe admitted. 

 

    “What do we do about that then?” Rey asked curiously, her hazel eyes boring holes into the side of his head until Poe finally looked over at her. 

 

    “We could keep kissing and see what happens from there?” Poe suggested as more of a question than a statement. 

 

    “I think I’d like that.” Rey smiled. “...Can I tell you something?” 

 

    “Anything you want.” Poe said. 

 

    “I...I...I’ve liked you since I was thirteen.” She admitted. 

 

    “I know.” Poe smiled at her. 

 

    “You knew?” Rey asked. “How could you know that?” 

 

    “You were always hanging around Ben and I, and you and Ben fought like cats and dogs so I knew it wasn’t to spend time with him. There was also the time you left me in your room for a minute while you got Chewy to show me this new trick you taught him and you left your journal open on the bed to a page filled with hearts and Mrs. Rey Dameron written all over it.” Poe smirked. 

 

    Rey turned bright red just as she had at dinner, but this time all Poe did was lean over and kiss her on the cheek with a smile on his face. 

 

    “It was cute.” Poe admitted. 

 

    “What do you think of me liking you now then? Is it still cute?” Rey asked curiously. 

 

    “Cute in a different way, in the good kind of way.” Poe assured her. “Not thirteen year old crush cute, much different from that.” 

  
    “Good.” Rey giggled. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: By some miracle, despite being out literally all day yesterday, I got this chapter done finally. I just wanted to write something kinda mushy and give my brain a break, but I hop you guys enjoy it! ;)

    The flight to London had been fun for both Poe and Rey, though Poe was only truly excited because he had Rey at his side and they were a little ways into this new relationship; it was just hand holding and kissing mostly at the moment, some cuddling and snuggling, but not anything more as Poe wanted to take it slow with her. At least things were going slow until they got to their hotel room and saw the one bed and realized they would be sleeping together, which made more than perfect sense since Poe had told Hux that he and Rey were dating after all. Poe figured he could just sleep next to her, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, he’d had girlfriends in the past and it wasn’t like they had sex every day, he could sleep next to Rey no problem. The problem would be seeing Rey in her pajamas and having her warm and slim little frame curling up next to him in the middle of the night, and - he really needed to stop thinking about it right now.  

 

    “It’s fine, we can sleep in the same bed, right?” Poe asked just to be sure. 

 

    “Yeah, I’ve known you for forever, it’s fine.” Rey shrugged. 

 

    Both of them were exhausted from their day of travel, and they didn’t have to start working until tomorrow, along with it being night time already outside, both Poe and Rey came to the conclusion of just going to bed now and preparing themselves for week to come. Rey went off into the bathroom to change while Poe just stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers, not thinking much of it, before crawling into bed and trying to find something to watch on TV for a few minutes before going to sleep. A few minutes later just as Poe found some movie to watch, Rey came out of the bathroom with her makeup washed off and hair pulled up, dressed in just a tank top and shorts with the same floral print to match the top, and she quietly crawled into bed beside him. 

 

    “So, what are you watching?” Rey asked curiously. 

 

    He’d seen her in her pajamas before, it wasn’t as if it were something new to him, and he always thought Rey was beautiful even when he wasn’t supposed to, that wasn’t new either; but having her there in bed beside him made things a bit different. She was so relaxed and at ease beside him, so much so that she scooted over closer to him in the bed, wrapped her arms around his waist, and leaned her head over on his shoulder until he rearranged it so that he had his arm wrapped about her. 

 

    “I’m not sure, it’s one of the old Bond movies I think.” Poe hadn’t been paying much attention to it since Rey walked out of the bathroom and got into bed. 

 

    “Oh, cool.” Rey half mumbled before she yawned and leaned in closer to Poe’s chest, starting to run her hand gently over Poe’s abdomen and not paying much attention as she let her fingers wander under his shirt.

 

    It was a harmless gesture, they’d had their share of harmless gestures between them that could have been interpreted by others as something more, not to mention that Rey seemed half asleep and not putting much thought into her actions. But the more she did so, the more Poe thought about it, and the more he thought about it, the more things became slowly uncomfortable for him and he was desperately glad that they had such a fluffy comforter on the bed, though he still felt a need to bunch more of it up around his waist. In the matter of a few minutes thankfully, Rey’s eyes were slowly starting to drift shut, but her hands kept going, tracing imaginary lines on his abdomen until she reached the point of tiredness that caused her hand to still and her squirming around in bed to find a comfy spot while still leaning on Poe. Despite all of this though, Rey was fighting to keep her eyes open and Poe couldn’t help but laugh a bit before leaning over and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. 

 

    “You should get some sleep.” Poe mumbled into her hair before pulling away. 

 

    “Mhmm.” Rey mumbled back as an answer. 

 

    Poe reached over on the nightstand and turned out the light, detaching Rey from him as she let out a small groan of protest, before he laid down in the bed facing her, though hoping she would keep her distance due to his current condition caused by her. Instead Rey did the opposite and wrapped herself around him, pulling herself close, and her eyes opening wide a bit as she realized what he had going on. 

 

    “Sorry.” Poe mumbled, a bit embarrassed, as he pulled himself away from Rey. 

 

    “No, it’s fine.” Rey quickly answered, pulling him back to her. “I mean...we are dating so...it’s nice to know.” She gave a bit of a flirty smile before pressing a quick kiss to his lips and trying to find a comfy spot again. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    The next morning, Rey was the first to wake up out of the two of them, her alarm she’d set on her phone waking her up as she scrambled to shut it off before it disturbed Poe too, though he’d have to get up with her since they both had to work today. But Rey just wanted to lie there a few minutes longer and enjoy the warmth, they were tangled up in each other's limbs, Poe’s hand resting on the small of her back, and her fingers running through his dark curls that were a mess from sleeping. He was still knocked out, rolled over on his side facing her as he’d done so in the middle of the night, not moving a single muscle and clearly enjoying his deep sleep. Rey had rarely seen him so peaceful before, maybe a few times when he’d fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room back home, and maybe when she was much younger and Poe would have a sleepover with Ben, the two playing video games until they went unconscious wherever they were last. It was still odd for her to realize that she wasn’t really pretending with Poe anymore, they had just sort of ended up together after spending nearly their entire lives together. She knew Poe had gone out into the world and seen beautiful women far and wide, while Rey had stayed in the town she was born in and dated a few guys in high school before making her big adventure out into the city where she’d lived peacefully with Poe until all of this. 

 

    Thinking back on the afternoons now where she’d come home from school and run into her room, get her homework out of the way before spending hours upon hours doodling and drawing, mostly doodling those little hearts Poe had seen once where she had written Mrs. Rey Dameron. If her thirteen year old self knew that all these years later, she’d be lying in bed with Poe, being able to just lean over and kiss him whenever she wanted, she probably wouldn’t believe it. Rey finally pulled her hands away and cupped the side of his stubbly face, he’d probably have to shave before they left unless he planned on getting a beard soon, she remembered seeing Poe with a beard once and it made him look completely different, but he didn’t look like the Poe she knew with all that hair on his face. 

 

    “Morning sleepyhead.” Rey murmured, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Poe’s nose, causing him to groan and try to pull the blankets up a bit more - he never really was a morning person. “Come on, it’s work day.” Rey laughed a bit and started pressing a flurry of light kisses against his cheeks and forehead. 

 

    “Alright, alright, morning.” Poe murmured with a slight laugh before leaning over and pressing a kiss to her lips. 

 

    “Sleep well?” Rey asked with a smile. 

 

    “Mhmm, you?” Poe asked curiously. 

 

    “Never better.” Rey answered with a bit of a yawn. “Hungry?” 

 

    “Well, the last thing I remember eating was pretzels on the way over, and lot of alcohol, so yeah, I think food would be good.” Poe smirked. 

 

    “Come on, let’s get dressed and get something to eat.” Rey giggled and sat up in bed, making her way out of the bed by crawling over Poe and encountering something very familiar from last night. “Oh, uh, morning.” Rey couldn’t help but blush a bit as she froze overtop of him. 

 

    “Sorry, again.” Poe mumbled, blushing a bit himself now. 

 

    “It’s fine.” Rey shrugged, her first instinct was to just climb off of him already and carry on with their day, but there was also the little thought in her head of staying right where she was - a thought she’d never had before. 

 

    “Uh...you okay?” Poe asked curiously as she didn’t move. 

 

    “Yeah, fine, I’m just...getting used to it I guess.” Rey said, staying straddled against his hips before leaning in and stealing kisses from his lips until he wrapped his hands around her waist and deepened the kisses. 

 

    Poe’s hands started roaming all over her, slipping under her pajamas and just wanting to feel nothing but her bare skin. The minute Rey let a moan out into the kiss, Poe moaned as well and pulled her even closer to him, their kissing getting slowly a bit more and more out of control. That is, until Poe’s phone ringing broke them apart, pink swollen lips and trying to catch their breath as Rey climbed off of him finally and out of the bed. 

 

    “Well, work calls.” Poe sighed as he sat up in bed. 

  
    “I figured, I’m gonna head into the shower then, I guess we’ll have to grab something to go.” Rey shrugged and gave him a kiss on the forehead before scurrying off into the bathroom, her heart still beating a million miles a minutes and a big grin on her face. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It's been a while since I updated this fic, almost a month actually! I almost forgot entirely about it honestly, and if I didn't make myself sit down and focus on a new chapter for it, I don't think I would have gotten it done. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it, let me know if you like it ;)

    On the way to the studio, Rey was optimistic and excited - she was in a big city she had never visited before, and she had Poe at her side, holding her hand the entire way. Walking into the building and seeing the buzz of all the people, arranging lights, setting up shoots, racks of wardrobe everywhere, Rey felt a twinge of nervousness that she hadn’t had since she left home and went to live with Poe in New York. 

 

    “You okay?” Poe questioned, his brown eyes filled with concern as he watched her fidgeting and biting her bottom lip beside him.

 

    “Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just...bigger than I expected...and a lot more people.” Rey mumbled. 

 

    “If you get uncomfortable at all, I’m right here with you okay? If you want to stop just say the word and we’ll stop, okay?” Poe assured her, giving her a warm smile and helping Rey relax a bit. 

 

    “Okay.” Rey nodded, pulling herself together, and feeling a bit of relief upon seeing Jessika’s face among the crowds of people, smiling and waving over at her. “Do what you have to do, I’m going over to Jessika.” 

 

    “Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.” Poe gave her a quick kiss before walking away, talking to the people who were setting up the lighting. 

 

    Rey weaved her way through all the people until she made it over to Jessika, whose rapid fire talking helped Rey drown out the commotion going on around her and actually have a few laughs. Of course Jessika asked her hundreds of questions about her and Poe since she’d seen them kiss, and how she knew that he’d end up with Rey sooner or later because all he ever did was talk about her in nearly every conversation she ever had with him. In the matter of an hour, Jessika had Rey looking like someone completely different, and back in a dress that she never would have worn on her own for anything really. When Rey made her way out to the set with Jess leading her so she wouldn’t trip over the long dress, she tried to relax as she had the first time, but between the hot lights shining down on her and the significant amount of people surrounding her and watching her, it was more than difficult. 

 

    She tried to focus on Poe, but the nose of everyone around her was drowning him out, not to mention the light shining in her eyes. She somehow managed to make it through the first set with her sanity in tact, but as Jess was helping her change into something else, even her constant chatter wasn’t enough to help Rey ignore her heart beating faster and the feeling of as if she were being suffocated. 

 

    “Rey?” Jess questioned, Rey trying to keep her focus on her breathing and getting a bit dizzy. “Whoa, wait, come here, let’s sit you down.” Jess reacted right away and guided Rey to a nearby chair, grabbing piece of paper and trying to fan some air towards her. “Oh my god, you’re as white as a ghost. Here, keep focused on breathing, I’m going to get Poe.” Jess handed her the paper before running off, Rey fanning herself to keep the air flowing and wanting nothing more than to get out of the building and away from all the people staring at her now. 

 

    “Rey, hey, it’s okay, I’m here.” Poe’s voice called out to her know as he knelt down in front of her, taking ahold of one of her hands and giving it a squeeze. “What happened?” He turned to Jess and asked. 

 

    “I don’t know, I was helping her get changed and she just went as white as a sheet, I think she’s having a panic attack.” Jess mumbled, hoping Rey wouldn’t hear but she could, she’d never felt this way before, like she just wanted to run out of somewhere from being so overwhelmed. 

 

    “I want to go.” Rey finally spoke up, Poe looking right at her and giving her a nod. 

 

    “Alright, you want to get out of this stuff first?” Poe asked as he rose to his feet and helped Rey up as well, his hands on her waist to keep her from falling in those heels. 

 

    “Yeah.” Rey nodded. “Can you help?” 

 

    “I will.” Poe assured her. “Jess, can you go tell them we’re done for the day? Tell everyone to go out and have a drink or something.” 

 

    “I’m on it.” Jess said before running off towards the front of the place. 

 

    “Come on, let’s get you changed and get you out in some fresh air.” Poe said. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    Rey was curled up next to Poe in the booth of a pub, untouched food sitting in front of her while Poe drank his beer and held her close to him. She just wanted out of that studio, she didn’t care where they went, she just didn’t want to be there anymore. They walked for about an hour, Poe’s arm around her while he had to talk on the phone with Hux who was questioning why the shoot was canceled. Eventually they ended up in this pub when Poe asked if she was hungry and she just agreed because she knew he probably was, the last thing she wanted to do right now was eat. She tried to pick at some of the fries in front of her to at least let him see she ate something despite her stomach churning and nerves still shot. 

 

    “Do you feel any better?” Poe asked, pressing a kiss to her forehead and pulling her closer to him. She felt safe with Poe beyond a doubt, but she still couldn’t shake that feeling she had. 

 

    “A little.” Rey said, it wasn’t entirely a lie, she felt better than she did when she was trapped in that studio. 

 

    “Try to eat a little more, I know you don’t feel like it, but just try.” Poe said, pushing her plate a bit closer to her as she tried to pick at it again. 

 

    “I’m sorry.” Rey finally sighed. “I messed up today.” 

 

    “No, you didn’t, you just got overwhelmed, it happens.” Poe explained. “Don’t blame yourself.” 

 

    Rey just nuzzled closer to Poe before picking at her plate again, enjoying his warmth and safety and trying to forget about the disaster she was just an hour ago. 

 

    “What were you arguing with Hux about over the phone?” Rey questioned. 

 

    “He was being an ass, he wanted to get you in to see some doctor that works for him, he’d probably try and put you on god knows what, I’m not letting them give you pills and send you off into oblivion.” Poe said. “He’ll get over it, we have an entire week to do one shoot, after that I think we should go home.” 

 

    “Yeah.” Rey nodded. 

 

    “Tomorrow we’ll just do the second part, get out of there, and if you feel up to it I’ll take you out somewhere nice, okay?” Poe gave her a smile and Rey couldn’t help but smile back, she didn’t know how she ended up with someone as protective and loving as Poe, but she was glad that she did - she wouldn’t trade him for anyone else in the entire universe. 

 

    “That sounds nice.” Rey pressed a kiss to his cheek and stole a sip of his beer. “Thank you, for keeping me safe.” 

 

    “You matter most to me, and I did promise your dad that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.” Poe assured her. 

 

    “That’s true.” Rey giggled a bit. “I’m sure he’d be happy to know that you’ve done your job.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    At the end of the day, Poe and Rey were curled up in their bed again back at the hotel, Rey trying to find something on TV, and Poe looking through the pictures from the shoot on his laptop. 

 

    “Don’t you ever get tired of seeing my face?” Rey asked with a smirk, leaning over on his shoulder now and looking through the pictures with him. 

 

    “No, not ever.” Poe grinned before pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

 

    “Well, I do.” Rey reached out and shut his laptop, reaching over him and placing it on the nightstand with a proud smile on her face. 

 

     “Hey! I wasn’t done.” Poe laughed. 

 

    “I’ve seen enough of my face to last me a lifetime, I just wanna see your face now.” Rey giggled and crawled into his lap, straddling him as she had done this morning. 

 

    “Rey-” Poe started to protest, only to be cut off by her lips. 

 

    She didn’t waste any time, she knew exactly where she wanted to kiss and remembered how to get the moan out of him again. A few seconds later, Poe lost every ounce of fight in him and grabbed her waist, kissing her back with all his might, and letting himself enjoy the moment. It didn’t take long for Rey to part from him, only to try and get his shirt off up and over his head, and before Poe could say a word, Rey had done the same to herself, sitting in his lap with just her bra and shorts on and kissing him again. Her hands stayed on his shoulders and on his back, occasionally digging her nails in if only to get a reaction out of him, while Poe was fighting the urge of getting them both out of their pants and having sex with Rey right there and right now, her skin silky and irresistible under his hands. But Poe had known Rey all his life, and they’d just started dating, he didn’t want to just sleep with her on a whim because he couldn’t control himself, he wanted everything to special and perhaps a bit more romantic than some weird sci-fi alien movie being on in the background. 

 

    “Mmm, we should get some sleep.” Poe mumbled, pulling away from their kiss a bit out of breath, but still smiling and holding on to her waist. 

 

    “Now?” Rey asked. 

 

    “Yeah.” Poe sighed. 

 

    “Why?” Rey asked a bit mischievously, grabbing his hands and moving them further up her body. 

 

    “Because, I was thinking that whenever we did get to this it’d be a bit more romantic, and less people dying in the background from some gross looking alien.” Poe pointed out. 

 

    “You sure?” Rey asked, leaning in and pressing kisses to his neck. 

 

    “Yeah, I’m sure.” Poe gave her a quick kiss to her lips when she pulled away. “I don’t wanna just rush through anything like this with you.” Poe finally let go of her as she climbed off of him a bit disappointed, immediately bringing her close to him once she lied down and peppering her with kisses until she started to laugh. “I love you.” 

  
    “...I love you too.” Rey answered, a smile still on her face. 


End file.
